{"id":26712,"date":"2017-11-15T22:59:40","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T03:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/smartmatic-the-role-of-blockchain-in-enabling-elections-and-democracy\/"},"modified":"2017-11-15T23:00:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T04:00:03","slug":"smartmatic-the-role-of-blockchain-in-enabling-elections","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/smartmatic-the-role-of-blockchain-in-enabling-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartmatic: the role of blockchain in enabling elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Smartmatic is in the business of building online voting platforms. With allegations that the 2016 election was rigged by Russia,<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> easily hacked voting machines,<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> and the infamous presidential election in 2000 in which millions of votes were tossed due to a punch card malfunction, the idea of throwing more technology at the US elections sounds like a dangerous proposition. However, Smartmatic\u2019s online voting platforms have been used across five continents, including countries such as Estonia, Netherlands, Belgium, Armenia, the Philippines, and Venezuela \u2013 where the company was founded.<\/p>\n<p>Smartmatic is responsible for conducting the world\u2019s first national online election in Estonia.<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a> Though there are a number of companies working on voting technology, they hold the lead in securing government contracts for online election technology by country, which in some countries covers the entire \u201cVote Supply Chain\u201d (hereafter VSC).<\/p>\n<p>To understand the VSC, there are five steps in the supply chain from voter to ballot box:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Register voters who eligible to vote<\/li>\n<li>Confirm voter\u2019s identity<\/li>\n<li>Anonymously and securely transmit vote from voter to ballot box<\/li>\n<li>Report vote tally at the county or state level ballot box to central reporting authority<\/li>\n<li>Count and verify votes casts by the central reporting authority<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With the rise of Bitcoin, blockchain\u2019s application for voting has already caught the attention of the European Parliament. Their internal think tank EPRS published an assessment on the applications of blockchain for voting,<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> and a minority party in Denmark has already implemented blockchain for an internal election.<\/p>\n<p>What makes blockchain so appealing is its potential to make online voting more secure and transparent. Blockchain is a permanent cryptographic record that is stored in a distributed network. Unlike a record stored in one computer or server managed by the government, it is easy to detect if a record is tampered with or altered from its original submission because all other nodes in the network will have a copy of the original record.<\/p>\n<p>Smartmatic is under pressure to implement blockchain technology to improve their online platform. Despite being a first mover in online voting technology, Smartmatic is at risk of losing contracts to startups specializing in blockchain such as: Votem<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> and Follow My Vote.<\/p>\n<p>So far, Smartmatic has implemented blockchain technology for the last step of VSC. For the 2016 election, the Utah Republican Party choose their presidential nominee using Smartmatic\u2019s voting platform.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> The voting platform used blockchain to monitor any inconsistencies once votes were cast. Smartmatic is also researching and testing the technology that would enable individual voters to verify votes using a blockchain.<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the idea of shifting the entire VSC online using blockchain technology is great for generating exciting news headlines, there are serious concerns for online voting, that is preventing many governments from adopting the technology, with or without blockchain. Much of the criticism centers around the difficultly of preventing malware from infiltrating a device and submitting a false vote before it is recorded in the blockchain.<a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There are also concerns about protecting voter privacy. Although cryptographic keys are used to secure data, nothing about blockchain\u2019s technology or the distributed network where information is stored ensures that data such as the voter\u2019s identity cannot be hacked.<\/p>\n<p>While Smartmatic should continue to develop its blockchain technology for online voting, Smartmatic has an enormous opportunity to use blockchain technology for voter registration, the first step in the vote supply chain. There is a great need for voter registration records that individuals can verify, especially in the US, where we have had issues with voters being purged from the voter roll on election day.<a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In addition, there is less incentive or consequence for hacking in the US because voter registration rolls are public record (though its accessibility varies by state). Needless to say, a security breach in voter registration files would not carry the same consequences as a hacked election.<\/p>\n<p>Individually verifiable voter registration records online will have a positive impact on providing voters assurance and clarity that they will be able to vote on election day. This is particularly impactful in the US where only 43% of Americans believe that their vote is counted.<a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>What are other applications of blockchain technology that can improve public confidence in the voting process? Do you think that the right technology can enable online voting even in a high-stakes national elections such as in the US?<\/p>\n<p><u>\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> David E. Sanger and Scott Shane, \u201cRussian Hackers Acted to Aid Trump in Election, U.S. Says,\u201d New York Times, December 9, 2016, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/12\/09\/us\/obam a-russia-election-hack.html, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Brian Barrett, \u201cAmerica\u2019s Electronic Voting Machines are Scarily Easy Targets,\u201d Wired, August 2, 2016, https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/08\/americas-voting-machines-arent-ready-election\/, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Kobie, Nicole, \u201cWhy electronic voting isn&#8217;t secure \u2013 but may be safe enough\u201d The Guardia, March 30, 2015, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2015\/mar\/30\/why-electronic-voting-is-not-secure, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Philip Boucher, \u201cHow blockchain technology could change our lives,\u201d European Parliamentary Research Service, February 2017, http:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/RegData\/etudes\/IDAN\/2017\/581948\/EPRS_IDA(20 17)581948_EN.pdf, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Dan Lohrmann, \u201cCan Blockchain Technology Secure Your Vote?\u201d Government Technology (blog), April 29, 2017, http:\/\/www.govtech.com\/blogs\/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity\/can-blockchain-technology-secure-your-vote.html, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Issie Lapowsky, \u201cUtah\u2019s Online Caucus Gives Security Experts Heart Attacks,\u201d Wired, March 21, 2017, https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/03\/security-experts-arent-going-like-utahs-online-primary\/, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> Mike Summers, \u201cOnline Voting Isn\u2019t as Flawed as You Think \u2013 Just Ask Estonia.\u201d IEEE Spectrum, October 26, 2016,<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/telecom\/internet\/online-voting-isnt-as-flawed-as-you-thinkjust-ask-estonia, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a> Issie Lapowsky, \u201cUtah\u2019s Online Caucus Gives Security Experts Heart Attacks,\u201d Wired, March 21, 2017, https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/03\/security-experts-arent-going-like-utahs-online-primary\/, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> Michael D. Regan, \u201cOfficials investigating why 126,000 voters were purged from NY roll,\u201d PBS News Hour, April 23, 2016, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/officials-investigating-why-126000-voters-were-purged-from-ny-rolls, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a> Betsy Cooper, Daniel Cox, Ph.D., Rachel Lienesch, Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., \u201cThe Divide Over America\u2019s Future: 1950 or 2050? Findings from the 2016 American Values Survey,\u201d PRRI, October 25, 2016, https:\/\/www.prri.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/PRRI-2016-American-Values-Survey.pdf, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can blockchain make democracy more secure and transparent?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10424,"featured_media":26713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[2608,928,4210,4209],"class_list":["post-26712","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blockchain","category-elections","category-online-voting","category-voting","hck-taxonomy-organization-smartmatic","hck-taxonomy-industry-technology","hck-taxonomy-country-venezuela"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2017\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Smartmatic: the role of blockchain in enabling elections - 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